


Somebody's Watching Me

by MizBabyGirl



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-22 09:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7428652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizBabyGirl/pseuds/MizBabyGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suspicious things start occurring during the BSC's sitting jobs which makes the club suspect that someone is following them around.</p><p>Can the BSC find out who it is before somebody gets seriously hurt?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stacey's Sitting Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday Afternoon  
> (Stacey McGill)
> 
> Today, I was babysitting for Becca & Squirt Ramsey.
> 
> It was a nice day out, so I took them out into the front yard to get some fresh air.
> 
> Charlotte came over to play with Becca and everything seemed good until something happened that not only scared the kids, but it scared me too.

 

It was a beautiful sunny summer Monday afternoon in Stoneybrook.

Stacey arrived at the Ramseys’ house around 2:15 that afternoon. She was going to babysit for Jessi’s younger siblings: 8-year-old Becca and 14-month-old Squirt (his real name is John Phillip Ramsey III; Squirt is his nickname).

Stacey knocked at the door and heard footsteps running inside the house.

“Mama, Stacey’s here!” Becca called.

She opened the door for Stacey. “Hi, Stacey. How are you?” asked Becca.

“Hi, Becca. I’m fine,” said Stacey as she walked inside the house.

Jessi was coming out of the kitchen when she saw Stacey.

“Hi, Stace. Mama is changing Squirt’s diaper. She’ll be here in a few minutes,” said Jessi. 

A few minutes later, Mrs. Ramsey came into the living room carrying Squirt.

“Hello, Stacey. I’m going to the salon to get my hair done and then run over to the grocery store. Jessi has dance class, so her ride should be here soon. She’ll be home around 4:00. I will be back in time for you girls to go to your club meeting. The emergency numbers are on the fridge in the kitchen, I have my cell phone if you need to reach me and the kids can have a small snack later on,” said Mrs. Ramsey. Mrs. Ramsey kissed her children goodbye and headed off.

A few minutes later, Jessi’s ride for dance class came.

“That’s my ride. I’ll see you later, Stacey. Bye, Becca, bye, Squirt,” said Jessi as she headed out the door.

“What do you guys want to do today?” asked Stacey.

“Can we go outside and play? Maybe Charlotte wants to play,” said Becca. Charlotte Johanssen is Becca’s best friend who lives next door to the Ramseys.

“Sure. I’ve got some new sidewalk chalk in my KidKit,” said Stacey.

Everyone headed outside into the front yard. Becca asked Stacey’s permission to ask Charlotte to come over and play.

Three minutes later, Becca and Charlotte came running over.

“Hi, Stacey!” exclaimed Charlotte as she gave Stacey a big hug. Stacey is Charlotte’s favorite babysitter.

Stacey took out the sidewalk chalk out of her KidKit.

“Cool! Sidewalk chalk,” said Becca. “Let’s go draw some cool pictures,” said Charlotte.

The girls ran over to the sidewalk near the Ramseys’ house and began drawing. Meanwhile, Stacey was watching Squirt play with his toy frog. He kept throwing it up in the air and catching it. Every time he caught it, he squealed and laughed.

Squirt threw his toy frog up in the air and jumped to catch it, but he accidently stumbled and fell on his bottom. Stacey looked concerned because she thought that Squirt was going to cry. After a few seconds, Squirt picked up the frog and started laughing. Stacey sighed in relief.

Becca and Charlotte were drawing a house with a tree and flowers.

“Let’s draw a blue flower,” said Charlotte.

“Okay,” said Becca.

As they were drawing the flower, they heard some popping noises in the background. At first, they thought nothing of it and continued to draw. As the popping noises grew louder, the girls began concerned.

“What is that noise?” asked Becca.

“I don’t know,” said Charlotte.

Suddenly, the popping noises grew more louder which sounded like gunshots to the girls.

“I think somebody’s shooting at us!” cried Becca.

“Run!” exclaimed Charlotte. 

The girls came running over to Stacey. “Stacey, Stacey, Stacey!!” they exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Stacey.

“We heard some popping noises. It sounds like somebody’s shooting at us!” cried Becca.

“Calm down, girls. I’m sure it’s nothing to...,” Stacey said until she heard the popping noises herself.

Suddenly, she noticed a round object hurtling towards the house.

“Duck!” screamed Stacey. She grabbed Squirt and she & the girls ran behind the house.

They heard a loud crash and then glass breaking.

Charlotte & Becca were holding each other, shaking and looking worried. Squirt burst into tears and started wailing.

“It’s okay, Squirt,” Stacey said as she comforted him.

The girls carefully walked over to the front of the house where they saw a huge crack in the Ramseys’ front window.

“Oh, my lord!” exclaimed Stacey.

“Who on earth would do something like this?” asked Becca looking shocked.

“I don’t know,” said Stacey. “Girls, let’s clean up the sidewalk chalk, take Charlotte home and see how bad it is.”

Becca and Charlotte gathered up and put away the sidewalk chalk. After that, they all walked Charlotte back to her house where Stacey explained the situation to Mr. Johanssen.

“Thank goodness nobody was hurt,” said Mr. Johanssen. “Let Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

Stacey nodded and she & Becca said goodbye to Charlotte.

When Stacey, Becca, and Squirt went back to the Ramseys’ house, Stacey could see broken glass behind the couch and a rock.

“Becca, can you please get me the broom and dustpan?” she asked. Becca went into the kitchen to get them.

Stacey put Squirt in his playpen so he wouldn’t be near the broken glass. Becca came back with the broom & dustpan. She carefully held the dustpan while Stacey swept up the broken glass. Stacey left a message for Mrs. Ramsey about what happened on her cell phone. She set up a snack for Becca & Squirt when Jessi came home.

“Oh, my gosh! What happened?” Jessi said as soon as she walked through the door.

Stacey went into the living room and explained what had happened.

“Did you guys see who threw it?” asked Jessi.

“No. It was like it came out of nowhere,” said Stacey. 

“Maybe it was a prank,” said Jessi.

“What kind of a prank would involve throwing rocks at other people’s windows?” asked Stacey.

“You never know what kind of pranks kids come up with these days,” said Jessi.

When Mrs. Ramsey came home, she was also surprised at what happened to the window.

“I got your message, Stacey. Is everybody okay?” asked Mrs. Ramsey.

“Everyone is okay. Nobody got hurt,” said Stacey.

“Well, thank goodness for that,” said Mrs. Ramsey. 

Jessi and Becca helped Mrs. Ramsey bring in the groceries.

“Thank you for cleaning up the glass, Stacey. This is quite serious. I’ll let Mr. Ramsey know. We might need to notify the police about this,” said Mrs. Ramsey.

Jessi looked at the clock and noticed it was almost time to leave for the BSC club meeting.

“Mama, we have to go to our club meeting,” said Jessi.

“Oh, okay. Hold on, Stacey. Let me pay you,” said Mrs. Ramsey. 

After Mrs. Ramsey paid Stacey, Stacey and Jessi headed for the BSC meeting.

As they rode their bikes over to Claudia’s house, Stacey couldn’t help but look over her shoulder every few seconds. The incident gave her quite a fright and she wondered who could be responsible for breaking the Ramseys’ window.


	2. BSC Club Meeting

Jessi and Stacey arrived at Claudia’s house for the BSC club meeting. As they headed upstairs to Claudia’s room, they saw Kristy, Claudia, Dawn, Mallory and Mary Anne already in the room.

“Hey, guys. You’re just in time,” said Kristy. The digital clock on Claudia’s desk switched to 5:30pm. “Okay, everyone. This meeting of the Baby-Sitters Club will now come to order."

“I have something very important to tell you guys,” said Stacey.

“What is it?” asked Kristy.

“During my babysitting job with Becca and Squirt, somebody threw a rock at the Ramseys’ front window,” said Stacey.

Everyone looked shocked.

“No way,” said Claudia.

“Who would do something like this?” asked Mary Anne.

“How did it happen?” asked Mallory.

Stacey explained how it happened and that she had no idea who threw the rock.

“I thought it might’ve been a prank,” said Stacey. “But I’ve never heard of a prank of where somebody throws rocks at other people’s house.”

The phone rang and Dawn answered it. “Hello, Baby-Sitters Club? Hi, Mrs. Barrett. You need two baby-sitters for Thursday from 11:00am to 4:00pm? Okay, we’ll check our schedule and we’ll call you back,” said Dawn. She turned to the other girls. “Mrs. Barrett needs two sitters from 11:00am to 4:00pm.”

Mary Anne checked the appointment book. “Let’s see, Mallory has a dentist appointment, Stacey is sitting for the Rodowskys.... Jessi and Kristy, you’re available,” said Mary Anne.

Kristy & Jessi agreed to take the job and Mary Anne called Mrs. Barrett back.

“Guys, this is serious. What happened at the Ramseys could’ve been worse,” said Kristy. “We need to have a safety plan so we can keep not only ourselves but our clients safe as well.”

Mary Anne went over to Claudia’s computer and prepared to start typing a safety plan list.

“Okay, everyone. Any suggestions?” asked Kristy.

“Make sure you know where the parents’ phone numbers are along with the emergency numbers,” said Stacey.

“Okay, that’s good. Anything else?” asked Kristy.

“Don’t open the door for strangers and make sure the kids don’t either,” said Mallory. Mary Anne typed it up.

“When you’re in the front yard with the kids, make sure the back door is locked or if you’re in the backyard, make sure the front door is locked,” said Mary Anne.

“That’s a good one,” said Kristy. “Oh, if the houses have any locks or alarms, make sure that the parents show you how they work just in case.”

Mary Anne typed it up.

“If one of the kids wants to invite friends over to play, make sure you get permission from the parents and the friends’ parents as well,” said Claudia.

“Keep a close eye on the kids inside and outside of the house. Make sure to check on babies or toddlers who take naps every couple of minutes,” said Dawn.

Mary Anne typed up Kristy, Claudia, and Dawn’s suggestions.

“Make sure that the windows and doors are locked from the inside and lock the front door after the parents leave,” said Mallory.

“Make sure to keep any matches, lighter fluid, electric cords, plastic bags, medicines or anything that might be dangerous out of the kids’ reach,” said Kristy.

“Especially from the babies and toddlers,” added Jessi.

After a few more tips, Mary Anne printed out copies for the other sitters.

“Keep this in your Kid-Kit so you won’t forget,” said Kristy. “If there’s an emergency situation in which you think that you and the kids are in danger, get them out of the house, find a safe place like a neighbor’s house and call the police. Our number one priority as babysitters is to make sure that the kids are safe and out of harm’s way.”

“Oh, make sure you keep your cell phones on just in case you need to get a hold of one of us,” said Mary Anne. She printed out two more copies to give to Logan and Shannon (the club’s alternate members).

After two more phone calls, the meeting ended. “This meeting of the Baby-Sitters Club is now adjourned,” said Kristy.

Everyone left Claudia’s bedroom and headed downstairs.

Kristy’s older brother, Charlie was outside in his car. Kristy hopped in and they drove off. Dawn and Mary Anne walked home together while Stacey, Mallory, & Jessi rode their bikes home.

As the girls left Claudia’s house, they hoped that the safety rules would come in handy in case something like what happened at the Ramseys’ house.

When Jessi got home, she noticed her dad and Mr. Johanssen replacing the front window. Her parents talked to the police who believed that it was probably a prank, but if anything like that happened again, they should call the police immediately. 

Becca was shaken up from the incident and Jessi stayed with her all night until she fell asleep. Jessi didn’t blame her sister for being scared because she was scared that something like that would happen again.


	3. Mary Anne & Claudia's Sitting Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tuesday Morning\Afternoon
> 
> (Mary Anne Spier & Claudia Kishi)
> 
> Today, we baby-sat for the Pikes while Mallory baby-sat for the Newtons (Mary Anne)
> 
> It was a drary (dreary), rainy day today, so the kids stayed in the house. (Claudia)
> 
> The word is out in the neighborhood about what happened to the Ramseys’ house and the kids couldn’t help but express their concerns & worries about it (Mary Anne)
> 
> Everything semed (seemed) okay until we kept getting these unsual (unusual) phone calls where nobody talked. It was something out of a horror movie (Claudia)
> 
> But what happened to the Pikes’ garage was even more scarier than any horror movie (Mary Anne)
> 
> No kidding (Claudia)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bold parenthesis are the correct spelling of Claudia's misspelled words in case anyone didn't understand what that meant.

 

It was a rainy, cloudy day when Mary Anne and Claudia went to baby-sit at the Pikes’ house.

They arrived at the house around 10:00am. Claudia rang the doorbell and Mallory answered it.

“Hey, guys. Come on in,” said Mallory.

The girls stepped inside the house and Mallory’s 5-year-old sister, Claire came running over to them.

“Hi, Mary Anne and Claudia, silly-billy-goo-goos,” said Claire. (“Silly-billy-goo-goo” is what Claire tends to call some people. Her family says that she’s going through a silly phase.)

“Hi, Claire,” greeted Mary Anne and Claudia.

“Mom will be downstairs in a sec,” said Mallory.

A few seconds later, Mrs. Pike came downstairs.

“Hello, girls,” said Mrs. Pike. “I’m going to be doing some temp secretary work today. I should be home around 2:30, 3:00 this afternoon. The number to the agency where I’ll be working is on the bulletin board with the other emergency numbers and my cell phone number. The kids are just finishing up breakfast, so they should have lunch around 12:30 or 1:00, whatever you decide. Everyone should stay inside today because of the weather even it it stops raining."

Mrs. Pike said goodbye to her children and headed off to work. A few minutes later, Mallory headed off for her sitting job at the Newtons.

Mary Anne and Claudia went into the kitchen where the rest of the Pike kids (10-year-old triplets Adam, Byron & Jordan, 9-year-old Vanessa, 8-year-old Nicky and 7-year-old Margo) were finishing up their breakfast.

Claire sat back down at the table to finish up her cereal.

“I heard that the Ramseys’ house got vandalized,” said Vanessa.

Claudia & Mary Anne’s eyes widened when they heard that. “Where did you hear about that, Vanessa?” asked Claudia.

“Charlotte Johanssen told me. She said somebody threw a rock at their window,” said Vanessa.

“What does vamblized mean?” asked Claire.

“It's vandalized," said Nicky. "It means when somebody makes a mess of somebody else’s property like a house or a building."

“I wonder who could’ve done that,” Jordan wondered out loud.

“What if our house gets vandalized too?” Margo asked looking worried. She got up and ran into Mary Anne’s arms.

“It’s okay, Margo. Everything’s all right,” said Mary Anne as she comforted her. Mary Anne couldn’t assure Margo that whoever vandalized the Ramseys’ house could harm the Pikes’ house, but she could at least let her know that she’s safe and everything will be okay.

After breakfast, the kids went off to do separate activities since they had to stay inside because of the rain.

The triplets were in the rec room playing video games, Nicky was playing computer games in his room, Vanessa was in her room writing poetry and Margo & Claire were in their room playing Barbies. Mary Anne kept an eye on Nicky, Vanessa, Margo, & Claire upstairs while Claudia kept an eye on the triplets downstairs.

Around 12:30, Claudia & Mary Anne decided to make lunch for the kids.

As they were preparing the food, the phone rang. Claudia picked it up and answered, “Hello?” but nobody responded.

“Hello? Pike residence? How may I help you?” Claudia asked, but again, nobody answered. She hung up the phone.

“Who was that?” asked Mary Anne.

“I dunno. Must’ve been a wrong number,” said Claudia.

Mary Anne and Claudia made sandwiches for the kids.

“Lunchtime!” Claudia called and the kids came running into the kitchen, sitting down at the table.

“Okay, we have ham & turkey for Adam, ham, cheese, & turkey for Byron, salami & cheese for Jordan, bologna & turkey sandwich for Nicky, peanut butter for Vanessa and peanut butter & jelly cut into triangles for Margo & Claire,” said Mary Anne.

“Bon appetite,” said Claudia.

As the kids ate their lunch, the phone rang again. This time, Mary Anne answered it.

"Hello?" Mary Anne asked, but once again, nobody responded. "Who is this?" she asked again, but she got no answer. She hung up the phone and was about to sit back down at the kitchen table when the phone rang again.

"I'll get it this time, Mary Anne. You stay with the kids," said Claudia. 

Claudia went back over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" she answered. "Is somebody there?"

When nobody answered, Claudia started getting frustrated. "Look, I don't know who this is, but if this is some kind of a joke or something....," she said, but then she heard what sounded like a muffled voice and then a busy signal. Claudia sighed and went back to the kitchen where the Pike kids were finishing up their lunches.

After lunch, the kids went back to their separate activities and Mary Anne & Claudia were cleaning up in the kitchen.

"Who was that on the phone?" asked Mary Anne.

"No one. I asked who it was, but nobody answered," said Claudia.

"Same thing happened to me when I answered the phone," said Mary Anne.

"It can't be a coincidence that both phone calls were wrong numbers, right?" asked Claudia.

Mary Anne shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she said.

Just as the girls was putting away the dishes, they heard Nicky yell from upstairs, "Mary Anne! Claudia! Come here! You've gotta see this!"

Claudia and Mary Anne rushed upstairs to the boys' bedroom. The other kids heard Nicky yelling and followed them to see what happened.

"What happened, Nicky?" asked Mary Anne.

"Look out the window," said Nicky.

Claudia and Mary Anne looked out the window and saw the Pikes' garage all covered in paint & toilet paper and one of the garage doors was dented.

"Oh, lord!" Claudia exclaimed.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the triplets as they ran over to the window. 

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Vanessa.

Margo and Claire walked towards the window to get a better look at what happened.

"Someone hurt the garage," said Claire.

"What if it was the vandals?" asked Margo, looking worried.

"Okay, everybody. Let's not panic," said Mary Anne as she was trying to stay calm herself. "Kids, you stay upstairs for the time being with Claudia. I'm going downstairs to make sure everything else is okay."

"I'll call Mrs. Pike," said Claudia as she took out her cell phone. Just as Mary Anne was about to leave the room, Claire ran over to her, clinging to her waist. 

"Mary Anne, I'm scared. Can I please come with you?" Claire asked.

Mary Anne nodded her head. "Okay, Claire," she said. "We'll be downstairs. I'll let you know if anything checks out." 

As the girls headed downstairs, Mary Anne looked around to make sure that everything else was okay. She looked out the windows to see if anybody was around the house, but she couldn't see anybody.

"Okay, guys! It's all clear," called Mary Anne. 

"All clear!" added Claire.

"I called Mrs. Pike. She's on her way home," said Claudia as she headed downstairs.

"Okay," said Mary Anne.

Mary Anne sat in the living room with Claire reading books while Claudia kept an eye on the older kids upstairs & played Barbies with Margo.

Just then, they heard the back door open and it was Mrs. Pike.

"Claudia? Mary Anne? I'm home!" called Mrs Pike.

"Mommy-silly-billy-goo-goo! You're back!" exclaimed Claire as she hopped off the couch and ran to give her a hug.

"Hi, sweetie," said Mrs. Pike as she hugged her back. She turned to Mary Anne and said, "Claudia told me what happened. Is everybody okay?"

"Yes, everyone's okay," said Claudia.

"Mrs. Pike, I'm so sorry. I don't know how this could've happened," said Mary Anne.

Mrs. Pike assured her, "It's okay, Mary Anne. It's not your fault."

Mallory came through the door a few seconds later. "What happened to the garage? It's a mess," she said.

"Somebody vamblized it," said Claire.

"What?" asked Mallory.

"She means somebody vandalized it," said Claudia.

Mallory looked shocked. "Who?" she asked.

"I don't know. We didn't see anybody outside or hear any noises," said Mary Anne.

"I can't believe somebody would do this, especially in the middle of the day," said Mallory as she took off her jacket.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to call the police," said Mrs. Pike.

"How come?" asked Claire. 

"Because destroying somebody's property is against the law, honey," said Mrs. Pike. 

"Does that mean whoever did this could go to jail?" asked Claire.

Mrs. Pike nodded her head. "Can you girls keep an eye on the kids while I call the police?" she asked Claudia, Mary Anne & Mallory.

"Of course," said Claudia.

After Mrs. Pike called the police, two police officers: Officer Sanders & Officer Phillips arrived at the Pike residence and questioned everyone about what happened.

"And you're positive that you didn't see anybody outside or around the house?" Officer Phillips asked Mary Anne.

"Yes, we are," said Mary Anne. "It's just hard to believe that this could've happened while everyone was indoors."

"Well, the circumstances are quite suspicious, but don't worry, we will investigate this," said Officer Phillips.

"Thank you, officers," said Mrs. Pike.

Before the officers left the house, Officer Sanders gave each Claudia & Mary Anne a card. "If you young ladies remember anything else or if another incident like this occurs again, please call us right away," he said.

"We will. Thank you," said Claudia.

After the officers left the house and Mr. Pike came home from work early, Mrs. Pike paid Claudia & Mary Anne for their sitting job and the girls headed for home.

Before Mary Anne left, Mallory ran outside. "Mary Anne!" she called. "Mary Anne, I have something to tell you!"

"What is it, Mal?" asked Mary Anne.

"Um, I don't know how to say this, but when I was sitting at the Newtons, I took Jamie & Lucy outside in the backyard for a little bit and I thought I saw a shadow across the street, but I couldn't tell at first. Then, I heard a noise from the front of the house, so I took the kids inside and I looked out the living room window to find out what it was, but by the time I got there, nobody was there," said Mallory.

Mary Anne looked quite surprised. "It's good that you told me, Mallory," said Mary Anne. "Oh, did you also getting any phone calls while you there?"

"Yeah. The phone rang twice and when I answered it, nobody answered back. It was the weirdest thing," said Mallory.

"That is weird. Let's make sure that we tell the other girls at the meeting tomorrow," said Mary Anne.

"Okay," said Mallory. She said goodbye to Mary Anne and headed back inside the house.

As Mary Anne walked home, she thought, "Whoever vandalized the Pikes' garage might be responsible for throwing a rock at the Ramseys' house. But the question is: who could it be?"


	4. Kristy and Shannon's Sitting Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tuesday Evening
> 
> (Kristy Thomas and Shannon Kilbourne)
> 
> Tonight, me and Shannon were sitting for our brothers and sisters while our parents went out to dinner. (Kristy)
> 
> At first, everything was okay, but then things started getting weird. (Shannon)
> 
> And in the end: scary. (Kristy)

 Kristy’s parents were going out to dinner with Shannon’s parents, leaving the girls to look after their siblings at the Thomas-Brewer house.

Kristy’s siblings are her 7-year-old brother David Michael, her 7-year-old stepsister, Karen, her 4-year-old stepbrother Andrew and her 2-year-old adoptive sister, Emily Michelle.

Her two older brothers: 17-year-old Charlie & 15-year-old Sam had plans for the evening and wouldn’t be home while her grandmother, Nannie was out bowling with friends.

Shannon’s siblings are her two sisters: 11-year-old Tiffany and 8-year-old Maria.

 _Ding-dong!_ went the doorbell.

“Kristy? Can you please get the door?” Mrs. Thomas called from upstairs.

“Okay, Mom!” Kristy called back.

“I’ll get it too!” exclaimed Karen.

Just as Karen was about to run towards the door, Kristy stopped her in her tracks, remembering one of the safety tips the club came up with.

“Hold on, Karen. Let’s see who it is,” said Kristy.

Kristy lifted Karen up so she could see through the peephole of the door.

“It’s Shannon and her family,” said Karen.

Kristy put Karen down and opened the door for them. “Hi, Shannon. Hi, Mr. & Mrs. Kilbourne,” said Kristy.

“Hi, everybody!” greeted Karen with a smile on her face.

“Hello, Kristy. Hello, Karen,” said Mrs. Kilbourne.

"Hi, Kristy, hi, Karen," said Shannon.

“Daddy! Shannon and her family are here!” Karen called.

“Okay, honey. We’ll be right down,” Watson called back.

“Please come in,” said Kristy as she moved to the side to let the Kilbournes inside of the house.

“Come on, Maria,” said Karen, gesturing towards the living room. “Let’s go play with my Barbies!”

“Okay,” said Maria & the two girls ran into the living room.

Meanwhile, Tiffany was standing by the doorway with her arms crossed, looking quite annoyed. “I don’t see why I have to be here. I’m too old to have a babysitter,” she said.

“I know, dear, but your sister and Kristy might need some extra help looking over the younger kids,” said Mrs. Kilbourne.

“Plus, it beats sitting around the house all evening doing nothing,” added Mr. Kilbourne.

Tiffany sighed. “If you say so,” she said, but she still wasn’t pleased about it.

Just then, Mrs. Thomas and Watson came downstairs. “All right, girls. We should be home around 9:30, 10:00,” said Watson. “There’s a frozen pizza in the refridgerator that you can make for the kids for dinner.”

“You know where the emergency numbers are and we have our cell phones in case you need to get a hold of us,” said Mrs. Thomas. “Nannie should be home around 9:30 and Charlie & Sam should be home by their curfew.” “Okay,” said Kristy and Shannon.

Kristy, Shannon, Tiffany and the adults went into the living room where David Michael & Andrew were playing with Legos, Karen & Maria were playing with Karen’s Barbie dolls and Emily Michelle was playing with her toy xylophone.

“Okay, kids. We’re leaving now. Be good for Shannon and Kristy,” said Watson. “Bye, Mom, bye, Dad,” said Maria.

“Bye, Daddy, bye, Elizabeth, bye, Mr. and Mrs. Kilbourne. Have a nice dinner,” said Karen.

David Michael and Andrew waved goodbye, but went back to building their Lego tower.

“Bing!” exclaimed Emily Michelle as she hit the keys on her xylophone.

Mrs. Kilbourne gave Tiffany a hug. “You be good, Tiffany,” she said.

“I will,” said Tiffany as she walked over to the armchair and sat down with her book.

After the adults left, Kristy kept the kids company in the living room while Shannon prepared dinner for the kids.

"Bing-bong, bing-bong, bing-bing!" Emily Michelle sang as she banged the stick on her xylophone. Suddenly, she lost the stick and it rolled over by the armchair where Tiffany was sitting at.

"Hey, Tibbany. I want bing-bong stick," said Emily as she pulled at Tiffany's pant leg.

Tiffany looked down at Emily. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Bing-bong stick," Emily replied, pointing to the ground where the stick to Emily Michelle's xylophone was.

"Oh, you want the stick for your xylophone," said Tiffany. She bent down, picked it up and gave back to Emily Michelle.

"Thank you, Tibbany," said Emily.

"You're welcome," said Tiffany.

"Wanna play music with bing-bong stick?" Emily asked.

At first, Tiffany thought the idea of playing with a toy xylophone was babyish for a kid her age, but she remembered what her mother said about being helpful tonight. So she put down her book, got off the armchair and sat down on the ground with Emily to play with her.

After a while, it was dinner time and everyone headed into the kitchen. Tiffany even helped Emily into her booster seat.

"Yum! Pizza. This looks delicious," said David Michael.

Everyone sat down and began eating, but just as Kristy was about to take a bite of her pizza, the phone started ringing.

"I'll get it," said Kristy as she got up from the table. She walked over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" Kristy answered, but nobody responded back. 

"Hello? Who is this?" Kristy asked again, but after a few seconds of silence, she heard a busy signal on the other line. Kristy hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" asked Shannon.

"Nobody. That's so weird," said Kristy.

After dinner, David Michael, Maria and Karen went back into the living room to play while Kristy got Andrew & Emily Michelle ready for their bath & bedtime. Surprisingly, Tiffany offered to help out. While Kristy & Tiffany were upstairs with the younger kids, Shannon stayed downstairs with the older kids.

Shannon was helping David Michael build a new Lego tower when she heard the phone ring.

"I'll be right back, guys," said Shannon. 

Shannon left the living room to answer the phone. "Hello? Thomas-Brewer residence. Who is this?" she asked, but just like Kristy, Shannon got nothing but silence on the phone.

"Hello? Excuse me, but whoever this is, can you please answer ba....," Shannon said before she was cut off by a busy signal.

Shannon shrugged her shoulders and headed back into the living room.

"Who was on the phone?" asked David Michael.

"Was it Daddy?" asked Karen.

"No, it wasn't. It was just a wrong number," assured Shannon.

A few minutes later, Kristy and Tiffany came downstairs after putting Emily Michelle and Andrew to bed.

"Well, Andrew and Emily are sound asleep. Tiffany was a big help," Kristy said to Shannon.

Shannon grinned. "Well, Kristy. It looks like we have a future BSC member," she said. Tiffany blushed.

Then suddenly, the phone rang again.

"Another phone call?" thought Kristy. "What gives?" She walked over to the phone and answered, "Hello, this is the Thomas-Brewer residence. May I please ask who is calling?" But just like before, nobody answered back.

Kristy started getting annoyed with the phone constantly ringing all night. "Look, I don't know who the heck you are, but if this is a wrong number, I would like you to please stop calling her...", she said before getting cut off a busy signal. Kristy heaved a sigh of frustration and slammed the phone down.

Shannon came out the living room and saw the frustrated look on Kristy's face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's these phone calls. I tried asking who it was, but nobody answers," said Kristy.

"This is so weird. What kind of a person would waste their time making ph...," Shannon said, but she was cut off by a loud crash from outside.

"Kristy!" Karen exclaimed from the living room.

"What was that?" asked Shannon.

"I don't know. Stay with the kids. I'll be right back," said Kristy as she dashed into the kitchen, through the mudroom and headed outside. She looked around outside on the deck, but couldn't find out what made the noise.

Suddenly, she saw what looked like a shadow near the bushes. "Hey!" Kristy exclaimed. She leaped off the deck and ran towards the driveway, but stopped in her tracks after realizing the shadow was gone.

Kristy started feeling freaked out. She had no idea what that noise was or what the shadow was. She walked back into the house where Shannon, David Michael, Karen, Maria and Andrew (who had woken up from the noise) were standing in the kitchen.

"Kristy, is everything okay?" asked Shannon.

"What was that noise?" asked Maria.

"Was it a monster?" asked Andrew.

"Was it Ben Brewer?" asked Karen. (Ben Brewer is Watson's deceased great-grandfather whom Karen thinks is haunting the Brewers' attic and the third floor of their home).

"I don't what it was, but it's over now. Everything's okay," said Kristy.

Andrew started yawning. "Come on, Andrew. I'll take you back to your room," said Shannon.

"Okay. Good night," said Andrew to Kristy, David Michael, Karen and Maria.

Just as Shannon was taking Andrew back upstairs, Tiffany was coming downstairs. "I got Emily to go back to sleep," she told Shannon.

"Thanks, Tiffany," said Shannon. "You've been a big help."

After Andrew went back to bed, everyone stayed in the living room as Kristy read the other kids stories. Around 9:30, Watson, Mrs. Thomas, the Kilbournes and Nannie came home. 

"We're home, everyone!" called Watson.

"Daddy!" said Karen as she lept off the couch and into her dad's arms. "Daddy, there was a loud noise outside. I think it was Ben Brewer's ghost."

Kristy explained to her parents & the Kilbornes about the loud noise they heard.

"It was probably just the wind or one of the neighbor's cats getting into the trashcans. It happens sometimes," said Watson.

"Thank you for telling us," said Mrs. Thomas.

Mrs. Kilbourne walked over to the armchair where Tiffany was reading her book. "Tiffany, did you help out your sister & Kristy tonight?" she asked.

"Yes, I did, Mom. I had a good night," said Tiffany.

"Tiffany was quite helpful, Mom," said Shannon. 

"She might even be a future member of the Baby Sitters Club," added Maria. Everyone chuckled at Maria's comment.

As the Kilbournes were preparing to leave, Kristy pulled Shannon to the side and told her about the shadow she saw near the driveway.

"Oh, my gosh. That's so creepy," said Shannon.

"I know. I'm calling tomorrow's club meeting an emergency meeting to figure out what's going on," said Kristy.

"Whatever this is, something really bad could happen to one of us if we don't solve this issue," said Shannon.


	5. Emergency Club Meeting

"This emergency club meeting of the Baby-Sitters Club will now come to order," said Kristy.

On mid-Wednesday morning, the entire BSC (including Logan) were all sitting in Claudia's bedroom. After what happened at the Thomas-Brewer residence the other night, Kristy had to address to everyone what had happened. Mary Anne and Claudia also brought up what happened yesterday morning with the Pikes' garage.

"I can't believe that happened," said Dawn.

"Who would do something like this?" asked Logan.

"I don't know, but after last night, I have a feeling that this is going way beyond just random hang-up calls," said Kristy.

"I have something to say," said Mallory.

"Go ahead, Mal. Tell us," said Stacey.

"Yesterday morning when I was sitting for Jamie and Lucy, I took them out in the backyard to play and I thought I saw a shadow across the street, but I couldn't really tell at first. And then, I heard a noise coming from the front of the house, so I took the kids inside and I looked out the living room window to see what it could be, but when I got there, nobody was there," said Mallory.

"Did you remember to lock the front door?" asked Jessi.

Mallory nodded her head.

"I wonder if the shadow Mallory saw has anything to do with the shadow you saw, Kristy," said Mary Anne.

"I'm not sure. I only caught a glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it must've gotten scared when I yelled," said Kristy.

"Mallory, how is your garage?" asked Claudia.

"It's okay. My dad called some repairmen to help fix the damage. My brothers & sisters are so freaked out over this," said Mallory. 

"How freaked out?" asked Mary Anne.

"Claire & Margo wanted me to help her make an alarm system for their bedroom," said Mallory.

"Okay," said Logan. "Phone calls are one thing, but vandalizing and stalking, that's another."

"Whoa, hold on a sec, Logan. We don't know for sure that somebody is stalking us," said Stacey.

"But isn't it weird that the incidents that happened occurred when we were baby-sitting?" asked Dawn. "I mean, how would they know where we were?"

"That is a good question," said Kristy.

"The only way they would know about our sitting jobs is if somebody took a peek at the BSC baby-sitting schedule," said Mary Anne.

"But who would look at that? It's not like we leave it lying around," said Stacey.

Everyone took a few minutes to think about who would look at their baby-sitting schedule, but couldn't figure out who it might be.

"Okay, everyone," said Kristy. "Let's focus on the facts. Whoever is doing this is making suspicious phone calls, vandalizing property, making loud noises...."

"And shadow-like figures," added Dawn.

"Here's another thing," said Logan. "The vandalizing incidents at Jessi and Mallory's houses are the only ones with property damage. As of right now, we haven't heard news about any other houses being vandalized which leads me to think whoever's doing this has some kind of a grudge or hatred against the club."

"Okay. Who would have a grudge against us?" asked Jessi.

"Cokie Mason?" asked Mary Anne.

"Nah, Cokie may be a major pain and totally annoying, but I don't see her doing something so reckless," said Kristy.

"Besides, Cokie's out of town for the summer visiting relatives. It's all she talked about at school before summer vacation began," said Claudia.

"Alan Gray?" asked Dawn.

"I don't think so," said Logan. "Alan's a prankster, but usually his pranks are pretty much harmless."

"I agree," said Stacey. "The last prank he pulled before summer vacation was putting melted cheese in the locker of one of the guys from the school baseball team."

Everyone chuckled over that.

"Um, I hate to bring this up, but we shouldn't rule it out, but do you think that....," Jessi began.

"Think what, Jessi?" asked Kristy.

"Do you think that it's possibly that one of the kids that we baby-sit for could be responsible for this?" asked Jessi.

Everyone looked shocked at not just what Jessi said, but the possibility of a kid doing something like this.

"It's possible," said Dawn, breaking the silence. "But it's hard to believe that one of the kids that we sit for could do something to hurt us."

"I've known a kid who would break a window accidentally, but on purpose, never," said Kristy.

"What about vandalizing a garage?" asked Mary Anne.

"Yeah, I mean, that sounds like something a teenager or an adult would do," said Claudia.

"Or a pre-teen," said Mallory. "Remember those two 12-year-olds who spray-painted a wall behind the library back in April?"

"Yeah, but that was different. Those kids did it because of a dare, not because they wanted to hurt anybody," said Jessi.

"Jessi, I'm not saying that idea is ridiculous or stupid. I mean, it could be possible that a kid would do this, but I'm just not sure that one of ours would do it," said Kristy.

"I know, Kristy, but you shouldn't rule it out. You never know what any kid could be capable of doing," said Jessi.


	6. Note From the Author

Due to a case of writer's block, I am taking a hiatus from writing the story for the time being, but I will still keep it posted unless I decide otherwise.

Sincerely,  
MizBabyGirl


End file.
